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Jan. 1, 2004 The great political philosopher Machiavelli wrote his most renowned work, “The Prince,” in 1513. It was a book that provoked a great deal of controversy in the early 16th century. The book’s main premise was that a prince had to keep control over his territories at any cost, deceit, bribery, or any other under- the-table behavior. Amazingly, this book I believe continues to contain information that is relevant in today’s geopolitical power struggles. Of course, most leaders in today’s world won’t admit to Machiavellian behavior or thinking, and perhaps they don’t even know that they are practicing his philosophy. The Italian philosopher had a great deal of insight into the inner workings of leadership and power and if you look closely you just might see those workings in today’s boardrooms and war rooms. I believe Machiavelli, if still alive, would approve of the U.S.A.’s adoption of the Patriot Act. He would have approved of a high military presence at our borders and airports, all of which are methods of control. He definitely would have approved of the Watergate incident that cost President Nixon his job. Heck, Machiavelli would have given Nixon a pay raise. At the height of his life, he served as a secretary in the Medici aristocracy. He wrote “The Prince” in an effort to gain favor with the Medici family, but public outcry about the book lost him his job. However, to this day he is considered by some to be a military and political genius. His ideas were considered radical and totally inhumane; hence, the word “Machiavellian” survives him. If someone is considered to have a Machiavellian way of thinking he/she is considered to be underhanded and controlling. Let’s face it being a Prime Minister, a President, a King, Queen, or a Prince requires control over one’s subordinates and one’s kingdom. If there is no form of formal control in any nation, you wind up with a rogue nation that lives in total chaos. Globally, Saddam Hussein has been condemned for having such control over his people, but were Machiavelli were still alive he would have lauded the dictator’s handling of his country. He would have given Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini the thumbs up, except Machiavelli was not necessarily into euthanasia.
I would be willing to bet you (anyone here
willing to split with a few bucks?) that every
good leader, political or otherwise, has a copy
of “The Prince” stashed away somewhere in their
personal libraries. You see, control is
camouflaged in today’s culture. However, you
will find in the boardrooms of Haliburton, Enron,
Microsoft, and other corporate giants.
Unfortunately, control is a must in our world.
We must bend to it, but we must not break to it.
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